


Dual Systems

by Absolute_Zero (Absolutely_Corrupted)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Female!Luke Skywalker, Force Training, Force Visions, Gen, Poverty, Slavery, Tatooine (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-04-08 09:31:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19104400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Absolutely_Corrupted/pseuds/Absolute_Zero
Summary: Luce Skywalker is a fourteen year old with more imagination than sense. Leia Organa is a fourteen year old with more ambition than sense.Obi-Wan is very tired.





	Dual Systems

 

Luce didn't know when she first entertained the idea that her dreams were more than dreams, but by the time she was fourteen she couldn’t shake the thought.

 

“Luce, get your head out of the clouds and help your Aunt with the vaporator.”

 

Case in point, she was yet again pondering the circumstances of her birth when Uncle Owen’s voice cut through her musings. She cringed at the gruff reprimand and hastened forward with the tool box she’d been sent to fetch as the familiar mutterings about ‘damn daydreaming fools’ started up. It was true, she had to concede, she did spend entirely too much time in her own head.

 

“The spare cartridges are in the bottommost compartment,” she told Aunt Beru as she set the box down. “I’ll turn off all the valves so you can switch them out.”

 

“Thanks, Luce,” her aunt was already reaching for the cartridges. “Just tell me when.”

 

Luce moved quickly, turning the valves and levers with very little conscious thought. It was all muscle memory at this point. “Alright,” she said, waiting just a moment to make sure everything had stopped moving. “Now.”

 

Aunt Beru was fast, much faster than even quick-fingered Luce would have been, thanks to a lifetime of practice. “Okay, I’m done.”

 

Luce was turning the first lever before her aunt had finished speaking. Out here, every second counted. A broken or inefficient vaporator could prove impossible to recover from. Especially for those who were just scraping by. Fortunately, their efforts were not in vain.

 

“Owen, look!” Aunt Beru clapped her hands. “Look at the output!” Standing back from the now humming hunk of machinery, Luce glanced over to see what had gotten her aunt so excited.

 

Her eyes widened. “ _Sithspit_.” Clapping a hand over her mouth, she quickly checked to make sure neither her aunt nor uncle had heard her before turning back to the display screen. _Seventy-two percent!_ That was thirteen percent higher than even their newest vaporator could reach.

 

Uncle Owen cracked a rare smile and Luce felt a surge of surprised joy in response. “Who did you say gave you those new specifications for the vaporator again?” she asked. And just like that, his good mood was swept away, like sand on the desert winds.

 

“Never you mind,” he snapped. And without another word, he turned on his heel and stormed off – up the stairs and outside into the afternoon suns.

 

Luce turned to her aunt in desperation. “What did I say?”

 

“Nothing dear,” she assured. “Your uncle isn’t on good terms with the man who helped him. He’ll get over it soon enough.”

 

Luce frowned. “Who was it?”

 

“Ben Kenobi,” at her confused look she elaborated, “The hermit who lives on the Outskirts.” Ah, that made sense. Uncle Owen often complained about ‘that damn hermit…’

 

The Outskirts were a desolate place – even more so than the region the Lars family lived in. To the best of Luce's knowledge, the hermit was the only person brave (i.e. stupid) enough to live so far from civilization. She’d met him a few times, but they’d never exchanged more than pleasantries.

 

Still, he’d done them a major service. Luce was working on ways to improve the vaporators and keep them in good condition, but she only really had the basics down at the moment – like replacing frayed wires and repairing leaks. “Aunt Beru?”

 

She looked up from the screen she’d been wiping clean. “Hm?”

 

“I think we should do something nice for Ben Kenobi. As thanks for helping us, even if Uncle Owen doesn’t like him much.”

 

Aunt Beru hummed thoughtfully, eyes focused on something behind her. “You’re right – we shouldn’t let your Uncle’s pettiness get in the way of being decent people.” She refocused on Luce with a small smile. “What did you have in mind?”

 

“Maybe some Tsuthi bread? With that tea you like?”

 

“Not a bad idea, Luce,” she said with a smile. “Would you like me to help you with it?”

 

“Please!” Making Tsuthi bread was an arduous process. Her aunt’s help would be a blessing. She tilted her head hopefully. “Can we start now?”

 

Aunt Beru laughed. “I suppose so – so long as you’ve completed your chores?”

 

“I have,” she told her. She always did them first thing in the morning when she didn’t have school.

 

“Then let’s go, before the suns go down.”

 

Luce nodded and followed her outside. They hastened across the small stretch of sand to their home, pulling up hoods and covering exposed skin as best they could. Tatooine was a desert planet and therefore dangerous in its summer months. In high summer, when things were really bad, natives ventured outside only when a single sun hung in the sky or none at all.

 

Aunt Beru reached the door to the house first and ushered Luce inside. “Head to the kitchen – I’ll be with you in a moment.”

 

Luce nodded reluctantly. She was no doubt going off to scold Uncle Owen, which would only make him grumpier. It wasn’t her place to get involved though, so she simply gathered the ingredients they’d need and laid them out on the kitchen table.

 

When Aunt Beru returned, looking exasperated, Luce did her best to distract her with cheerful chatter. Once the tension had eased from her aunt's shoulders, they settled into a routine, passing ingredients and tools back and forth as they prepared the dough.

 

Roughly two hours later, the only thing left to do was bake the bread. As it was quite late by this point, Luce was sent to bed with the assurance that she’d be allowed to deliver it first thing in the morning.

 

That whole night she tossed and turned, dreaming events that couldn't possibly have happened.

 

 _‘Kenobi’,_  she rolled the name around in her head, unable to keep herself from tacking on ‘ _the Jedi Master’_ to his name. Could it be true? Could he really be a jedi?

Of course, if it _were_ true, she’d have to consider the possibility that everything else she dreamed was true as well. Was Vader her father? Was she really separated from her twin at birth? 

 

She had no idea. But visiting Kenobi meant she was one step closer to discovering the truth.


End file.
